Once A Hunter
by HeWalksWithShadows
Summary: After the tragic deaths of Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore, Jeremy Gilbert and his friends team up to finally defeat Klaus who is on the verge of creating a supernatural triquetra, bent on supernatural dominance on Earth. Jeremy must learn patience and strength because killing Klaus means the end to all vampires.
1. One

Death is unavoidable, immortality is a lie. Jeremy Gilbert discovered this when Elena Gilbert and Damon Salvatore met their deaths. It had been a year since both deaths and five since Jeremy's hunter senses awaken. A lot had happened, death and loss of course. But, the biggest event was happening right before his eyes—vampires were attempting to come out of the coffin.

Jeremy, Tyler, Bonnie, Caroline and Matt crouched in between bushes facing an old abandoned factory on the outskirts of Mystic Falls. Jeremy looked up at the starry nighttime sky where the moon sat between the stars casting a silver light onto the factory. Beyond the bushes there was nothing but dirt, trackers and trees surrounding the factory. "Do you think anyone is in there?" Tyler was the first to ask.

"Most likely," Jeremy replied. "This is supposed to be a recon mission. We have to find Klaus before he finds us. Also, we need to know how so many vampires and werewolves in Mystic Falls are getting ahold of daylight and moonlight rings. We do not want to actually get into a fight," he pulled out his stake from the holster on his back, "but I always come prepared."

Jeremy began to take his responsibilities as a hunter more seriously. He trained with Stefan and Alaric, skipping college to study the art of killing vampires. He crafted the stake that held in his holster and used it as his primary stake for hunting vampires. The wood was thick and durable; it was made for multiple battles. He created it by carving a thicker stake, giving it a metallic rubber base to avoid splinters. In his holster, he also carried a blade that made it easier to behead vampires.

"If there are vampires inside I can incapacitate them." Bonnie said. "You would need to let me know somehow so I can start chanting." Bonnie pulled out sea salt from her bag so that she could cast a circle.

"I'm not going to let you stay out here alone by yourself!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"I'll stay with her," Tyler cut in. Just as Jeremy had been training to be a better vampire hunter, Tyler had gotten better at being a werewolf through the use his moonlight ring. He could control his ability to shape-shift and had access to some of the abilities, such as his lethal bite, in human form.

"So Jeremy, Matt and I will go in while you and Bonnie stay out here," Caroline concluded. She had pulled her blonde hair back into a ponytail and adjusted the black leather jacket that she was wearing. She hoped it would not squeak and give them away.

"Right," they all agreed.

"Caroline, you should run back out to warn Bonnie if there are vampires inside," Jeremy cautioned.

"Okay, I think we're ready." Matt said.

They all stood up. Jeremy turned towards Bonnie taking her hand, "I'll be back soon."

"I'll be alright. Tyler will protect me and I will be in the circle."

"I know," Jeremy sighed. "But I still worry. With Elena and Damon…"

Bonnie grabbed Jeremy's face and his stubble pricked her hands. She brought his face to hers and they kissed like lovers before a war. They pulled apart, "go. I'll be fine." she said.

Jeremy reluctantly let go of Bonnie's smooth, steady hands and he, Caroline, and Matt cut through the bushes, running towards the factory.

….

"There are way too many of them," Caroline said in an aggressive whisper. Jeremy, Caroline and Matt looked down from the landing they were on and spotted a group of twenty vampires. Some gathered around a table playing a card game, some drank from the makeshift bar and some fed off lifeless humans. "I guess this isn't going to just be a simple recon mission."

Jeremy nodded at Caroline, the signal for her to let Bonnie know to start chanting. Caroline ran back out of the rooftop like a lightening flash.

"So what's the plan now?" Matt asked.

"Once Bonnie can give them all supernatural migraines, we will just start staking. We need to leave at least one who can tell us what's going on here and where Klaus is." Jeremy noticed the uneasiness on Matt's face. Jeremy did not always want Matt to be involved as he was the only human on the team. Bonnie tried to teach Matt some magic to give him an advantage. Ultimately, that resulted in a fire in her house when all she had him do was to mix a brew. Caroline would have turned him but once Klaus was killed, vampires would cease to exist.

Matt did not want to be supernatural. Jeremy could not grasp that idea since they were living in a supernatural world. He could not always be there to protect Matt. Being a hunter gave Jeremy enhanced senses, speed, and stamina that he needed to combat vampires; he had wanted the same for Matt. Matt continued to turn down offers and wore the Gilbert family ring for protection. Jeremy knew that once that was snatched or cut off his finger Matt was as good as dead.

Caroline ran back into the factory. "She's getting ready now. She said just a few minutes."

They waited and saw the vampires cry out in pain, holding their heads as if they were going to explode. "Now!" Jeremy shouted running towards a set of stairs leading to the floor below. He jumped off the edge of the rail and went for his first vampire with his stake. He drew his blade from the holster and with a wave of his arm, decapitated another. This felt like a sport to him: how many vampires could he kill within a minute? He glanced at Caroline and Matt who weren't doing too bad themselves. Then again, how could they when the vampires weren't able to fight back?

When they got down to the last five, Jeremy realized he jinxed himself because the vampires suddenly stopped holding their heads. Caroline and Matt backed up and crept closer to Jeremy. "Jeremy," Matt began, "what's happening?"

"It has to be Bonnie. Maybe she could not keep the spell going any longer."

"We have your witch," a booming voice rang throughout the factory, "and your werewolf friend too!"

"Who are you? Where are they? What have you done to them?" Jeremy shouted back.

"They're fine," the voice became sultry as it crept closer to them. From a distant corner room, out stepped a woman with curly brown hair and four other figures. "I am Gabriella and they are with our associate. You know him actually."

Jeremy, Matt and Caroline all looked at one another. "We know a lot of people," Caroline spoke, "you'll have to be specific."

Gabriella giggled, "Why Klaus of course."

"Klaus?" Matt, Jeremy and Caroline asked all at the same time.

"He works with us witches and we help him and his vampires and werewolves."

"So you're the ones creating the rings!" Jeremy exclaimed.

Gabriella laughed. A big, paler witch from her coven shot, "So what if we are? How do you suppose you'll stop us?"

"But, I don't understand. Why would you want to help Klaus? Witches don't associate with vampires," Jeremy said.

"Rogue witches do." Gabriella stepped out of the shadow and closer to Jeremy. He could she her brown skin laminating under the dim hanging lights. "Our coven wants supernatural beings to dominate the Earth."

"But I still don't understand why you need Klaus to do that?" Matt shouted.

"We've heard a lot about you and your friends Hunter." She acted as if she did not hear Matt's question. "We know that you are responsible for killing off most of the Original Family: Finn, Kol, Rebekah, and Elijah Mikaelson. Klaus is the only original vampire, hybrid, left. His bloodline of vampires is the only line of vampires left. If Klaus dies, vampires cease to exist. We don't want that. We want supernatural creatures to reign."

"But that means exposing witches to humans as well. It will be Salem all over again," Caroline blurted out.

"Not if we have vampires and werewolves protecting us—and not just at night, during the day as well." Gabriella began to pace, "You're right. It would be Salem all over again. We would be hunted, burned at the stake. But by teaming up with the vampires and werewolves, we would be indestructible. A supernatural triquetra…"

"You don't know Klaus!" Matt yelled, "He only cares about himself."

"Quiet mortal!" the witch bellowed. She waved her hand, throwing Matt back into boxes and old junk.

"Matt!" Caroline cried running to his recuse.

"Leave him alone!" Jeremy said gripping his blade and stake tighter. "And besides, he is right. Klaus cannot be trusted. He must be stopped! You're putting your coven in danger."

"As long as he is willing to protect us, we aren't in any danger."

"You're delusional."

"And you're weak Hunter," she spoke. "Isn't it convenient now that your sister is dead that you finally wish to kill Klaus? Now that you have nothing left to lose? Sure you have a few friends who are vampires, willing to risk their existence to save the human race. But you waited for your poor vampire sister to die to actually put the effort into ending vampires."

"You're right. I have nothing else to lose. I don't have any family and I have friends willing to die to end this. But the loss is helping me to understand my duty as a Hunter—to protect humanity. You ready?" He yelled back at Caroline and Matt who was still lying in the junk. They nodded and Jeremy reached into his pocket and pulled out the Gilbert Device 2.0 he created and Bonnie enchanted to work on not only vampires and werewolves, but witches too. It was a small device that worked like a remote, a lot less intricate than the original. He pressed the button on the device and Caroline put her ear buds in as a loud sonic frequency radiated from the device causing the witches and vampires to fall over holding their heads.

He lunged at the witch holding her head but she lifted her hand and threw his blade across the room. "Finish them!" she shouted, running towards the exit.

Jeremy began to run after her but Caroline shouted, "Jeremy, let her go! We need to stick to the plan." Jeremy paused and ran to pick up his blade. He decapitated the remaining witches who struggled to focus due to the sonic frequency while Caroline helped Matt up. They both killed the remaining vampires, staking and ripping their hearts out.

When he was finished with the witches, Jeremy turned towards Caroline and Matt to find one vampire left. He turned off the sonic device and ran over to them. Caroline, being the strongest, held on to the vampire so she would not escape. She wore jeans and a crop top stripped shirt. Her black hair covered her face while Caroline linked her arms around her back.

"What's your name?" Jeremy asked pointing the blade at her throat.

"Tasha." she spoke. "What are you going to do to me?"

"We need you to tell us where Klaus is," Jeremy said. His voice was cold, "but if you try to kill us, we won't hesitate to kill you first."

"How can I trust you?" Tasha flinched away from the blade flashing her fangs at Jeremy. "I'm not telling you anything. How do I know you're not going to kill me anyway? I'm not telling you anything!"

Jeremy shrugged, "Fine." He flipped his stake in the air with his hand and caught it by the metal handle. "Have it your way." He charged the stake into her heart and pulled it back out revealing a vast wound in her chest.

"Jeremy!" Matt and Caroline yelled together. It was too late. Her body started to desiccate – her tan skin faded to gray, her eyes still wide opened from shock. Caroline felt her body turn stiff and she slowly put her down on the floor.

Jeremy gripped his stake hard, "We don't have time for this." His voice was abysmal; there was no empathy in his heart, no mercy for vampires. He turned to the main door Gabriella exited, reflecting. He did not feel bad about staking Tasha. He was supposed to kill her because he was a hunter. He was supposed to hunt vampires. Gabriella was right: the only thing that held him back was Elena and her love for everyone. Stefan, Damon, Caroline, Tyler (when he was a hybrid) were all fortunate to have Elena. When he first became a hunter, Jeremy wanted to stake every vampire he came into contact with.

Elena was blood but he wanted to kill her too. Before she was a vampire, she was human and she loved Jeremy. She would have died for anyone she cared about a hundred times over if it meant they could live. She believed everyone could be redeemable. Her soft heart led her to her demise and Jeremy could not make the same mistake. In order to ensure that humanity survived, he had to make sacrifices.

So when he thought about it some more, he really did not regret killing Tasha. She was just another casualty.


	2. Two

"Jeremy, wait!" Caroline yelled running to catch up with him. He was running towards the spot where Bonnie and Tyler were kidnapped by Klaus. Though Jeremy had hoped that Gabriella was wrong about Bonnie and Tyler being kidnapped, his heart stank. Nothing was left behind but parts of the salt that Bonnie had used to cast a circle. Caroline ran right in front of Jeremy and continued, "Hey, do you understand what you just did? We have no leads as to where Klaus could be keeping Bonnie and Tyler. None!" Jeremy ignored this and continued to keep walking as if Caroline had not said anything to him.

"Caroline is right," Matt interjected once he caught up with them trying to catch his breath. "We need someone like Tasha!"

"No we don't," Jeremy responded. "We just need to come up with a plan."

"We need Stefan and Alaric. We can't fight Klaus alone." Caroline said.

"No, we can do it. We have to find Bonnie and Tyler! They need us! We don't have time to get to Stefan and Alaric and then come up with a plan."

"Look dude," Matt grabbed Jeremy's head, looked into his eyes, "Bonnie and Tyler will be alright. Klaus will not kill them because if anything Bonnie could be useful to him. Bonnie will only agree to help him if he keeps Tyler alive. They will be fine."

Jeremy did not want to believe it, but Matt and Caroline were right. He was letting his heart think for him when he needed to use his brain. "Okay, you're right." Matt and Caroline seemed to both let out a simultaneously sigh of relieve because neither of them was ready to go up against Klaus. "So what do we do next?"

"Like I was saying, we go back to the cabin, tell Stefan and Alaric what happened and then we come up with a plan. Matt, where is the truck?"

….

Matt pulled up to the cabin in his red, four-door Ford. Jeremy could see that the lights were on which meant that Stefan and Alaric were still home. Jeremy, Matt and Caroline got out of the truck and head for the door. They all gathered around the front door of the Hunter's Cabin, Jeremy's secret base. Alaric, Stefan and Matt helped him build it out of stone, wood and plaster. They could not jeopardize Klaus or his henchmen finding his base and destroying the white oak stakes. There weren't many left as Rebekah burned most of the wood that was used on the Wickery Bridge.

"Where are Bonnie and Tyler?" Alaric asked as soon as they came in. He was reading _Mystic Falls Daily_ as he usually did to find leads on Klaus. Klaus had been able to cloak himself well. Alaric looked down from the paper, his eyes over his reading glasses.

"Klaus has them and we have no clue where they could be," Caroline answered. She and Matt left out the fact that Jeremy killed their only lead because Alaric might give him a lecture about controlling his anger.

"Okay, we need a plan." Stefan stood up and walked towards the fire place and stared into the flame. After Elena's deaths, he locked himself in his room in the Salvatore Boarding house. Whenever someone would check on him, insisting that he needed to feed, he would lie on the bed with a blank, empty gaze in his eyes and Elena's diary in his hand. He lost his hunger, as if his soul crawled out of his body and all that was left was an empty shell. The kind sweet reformed guy that they met years ago became ball of despair. They all expected him to become "Ripper Stefan" but he was the complete opposite which scared them just as much as the Ripper.

"This would be a lot easier if we at least had an idea as to where Klaus was," Alaric started. He opened up the top button of his reddish plaid button up, fanning himself with the newspaper he had been reading.

"I think we should split up and ask around," Caroline suggested.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Jeremy asked.

"I mean, we are sitting ducks," Caroline replied. "Klaus has Bonnie and Tyler and he wants to kill us all."

"Who's to say that Klaus hasn't already killed Bonnie and Tyler," Stefan interjected.

"Stefan, don't think that way!" Caroline snapped.

"Why not? He wants us all dead anyway."

"This isn't about Klaus vs. us anymore Stefan," Matt said. "Klaus wants us dead but he also wants to make supernatural beings domain. He wants power, he wants control. We have to keep him from getting what he wants."

"Matt is right," Alaric followed up. "Stefan, we all understand your pain. We all miss Elena and we all miss Damon. We know that you have a special connection to both of them, especially Damon because he was your brother. But, what would Damon want you to do?"

"Damon didn't care about humanity. He would probably just join Klaus."

"You know that isn't true," Caroline snapped. She walked over to him and looked into his eyes. "Stefan, Damon cared. He was damaged but he cared. He would try to help fight with us to make Elena's death worth something. Damon would make Klaus pay and that's what we are going to do."

"And you know what happens to us when we finally do kill Klaus?" Stefan yelled at her. Caroline was taken aback for a minute. "We die Caroline! They don't get it but _we _die anyway." Stefan reached for the Jack on the mantel of the fireplace.

"I know Stefan," Caroline spoke in a low voice. Caroline didn't like to think about her death much but she came to accept that she died a long time ago. She died the evening Katherine smothered her with a pillow. Her heart no longer beat with a vibrant youthful joy, she didn't age, and she depended on blood for her existence. She was no longer a real girl. She reached her arms out to hug him and she began to shed tears. "But I've accepted that. We were never meant to be immortal."

The room was silent and everyone could feel the somberness that plagued their futures. There would be trials, there would be heartache and there most certainly would be death, again.

"Look," Alaric began, "We should all get some sleep as the sun is coming up. Most vampires will be inside anyway."

"What?" You can't be serious Alaric," Jeremy retorted. "Bonnie and Tyler are out there and they need us."

"Klaus won't kill them. They are supernatural, if anything he needs them. Based on what you told, Klaus wants to secure supernatural dominance and it would be counterproductive to kill supernatural like Bonnie and Tyler."

"But how can we be so sure of that?"

"We can't be Jeremy. But what good are we to Bonnie and Tyler if we are exhausted?"

Alaric had made a good point. He usually did which is why Jeremy was glad when he came back from the other side. He had older person wisdom which is what Jeremy lacked in his life since his parents and his guardians died. "Okay, you, I and Matt will sleep. But, Stefan and Caroline should try to keep looking out for leads."

"That's fine," Caroline said, "you guys rest up. It shouldn't be too hard to weed out any vampires with daylight rings on."

"Alright but call if you need us."


	3. Three

The daytime was quiet in the cabin. The fire in the fireplace was extinguished. It was dark, as the curtains were drawn to keep the sun out. Everything was calm except for the back room on the second floor where Jeremy tossed and turned. "Don't touch her!" He repeated, "Don't touch her!"

It was a bright day in Mystic Falls. The sky was clear above the town. The townspeople went about their day as if everything was alright, absent-minded to the torture that lied deep beyond the forest trees. Bound to separate trees, Elena Gilbert, Bonnie Bennett, and Matt Donovan hung beaten and bloody.

"Are you ready to tell me, Elena, where little Jeremy Gilbert is?" Klaus spoke. He put his dagger to her stomach.

"Go to hell," Elena angrily spat. "I'll never tell you where he is."

"He killed Elijah! He is responsible for killing my brother! Now where is he?" He sliced her stomach horizontally with the blade.

"Ah!" Elena cried out. "Elijah was going to kill us."

"Because you killed Rebekah!"

"She was going to kill Matt for his unfaithfulness."

"I wasn't being unfaithful. She left me. You all left us. You went New Orleans and we thought that you all moved on," Matt yelled.

"That is not my problem. You killed her and then you killed Elijah. And for that you will pay. I should have killed you lot when you killed Finn and Kol." Klaus ran over to Elena quickly and pointed a wooden stake at her heart. "I should kill you right now. But if I do that, I might not find out where your hunter is. Besides, even if you don't tell me, I can still use you as bait. He will come looking for you and then I will get my revenge."

"If you touch him, I will kill you myself." Elena stared at him with her piercing cold eyes. She spat blood on him and it continued to run out of her mouth.

"And risk dying yourself?" Klaus asked wiping away the blood from his shirt. "Remember any of you kill me and you all die. You are all a member of my bloodline."

"That's a risk I'll take to save him from you."

"Elena," Bonnie and Matt said.

"What? I don't care anymore. I died the night we drove off the Wickery Bridge, Matt. Jeremy still has a chance to live the rest of his life and I won't let Klaus take that away from him."

"That's very noble of you Elena," Klaus interjected. "You always were willing to self-sacrifice yourself for the people you love."

"Elena!" Damon yelled running to their rescue.

"Damon! Don't!" Elena began. But Klaus had run over to Damon, grabbing him by the neck and slamming him down to the ground.

"Look Klaus," Damon struggled to speak, "you don't have to do this."

"Oh but I do. You see, I don't have any family left. I am the only Original standing and I refuse to let you and your self-sacrificing friends kill off the last of the vampires. I am willing to kill you lot off to ensure that vampires never die."

"So just kill us. Why drag this out?" Damon said.

"I need you all to witness poor Jeremy Gilbert's demise. He will pay for leading in Elijah's death."

"I won't let you," Damon struggled to break free of Klaus' hold on his neck but he was too strong.

"You know," his face beamed, "I just thought of a way to make this a lot more interesting." He pulled Damon's neck closer to his lips and Damon felt Klaus' razor sharp teeth pierce his marble skin. Blood dripped off of his fangs, "Bring me Jeremy Gilbert or you die."

"No!" Elena sobbed.

"Your time is ticking away Damon Salvatore," Klaus said sharply. "When you're ready to bring me Jeremy, you can find me at my home." Klaus sped off.

Damon stood up and ran over to Elena, Bonnie and Matt and untied them from their individual trees. "Damon," Elena fell into his arms, still sobbing, "Oh my God!"

"Elena, everything will be okay," Damon tried to console her.

"Will it?" She looked at where Klaus had bit him.

"We just need a plan. We can figure this out."

"No Elena," Damon spoke softly, "I don't think we are going to win this time. Klaus is raging with power. He won't stop this time. We either turn over Jeremy or I die from this hybrid bite."

"No, no, no…" Elena kept repeating herself.

"Elena," Bonnie said rubbing her back.

"I won't let Klaus decide when I die," Damon said. His eyes were bleak.

"What?" Elena stopped sobbing.

"Elena, I love you." His eyes met hers. "When I first met you, I was a coward. I was a broken man still broken over the loss of Katherine to Stefan. You've changed me for the better. You made me into a better man. You fixed me and for that, I cannot thank you enough. I really hope that when you defeat Klaus, I will see you again."

"Damon, what are you about to do?" Elena asked.

"Goodbye Elena," Damon spoke and tears began to escape his eyelids. He reached down for his ring and ripped it off of his finger. His body broke into bright, red flames.

"No!" Elena went to reach out for him but Matt and Bonnie grabbed her arms. They turned her towards them and hugged her while she sobbed. When the flames extinguished, all that was left where Damon stood was a pill of ashes and a scorched spot on the ground.

Jeremy awoke to a knock at his door. "Come in," he said, still half sleep.

It was Alaric. "Caroline and Stefan said they think they got a lead on where Klaus might be. They will be back shortly. You alright?"

"Yeah, just had the dream again."

"Which one?"

He looked at Alaric and tears began to burn his eyes but he tried with all of his might to not let one slip out. More of his friends were destined to die because of Klaus and the time was getting near.

Jeremy dreamt of Damon's death every night when he wasn't dreaming about Elena's death. When Bonnie, Elena and Matt came home, they told Stefan about what happened. Once they met up with Jeremy, Bonnie shared their afternoon with Jeremy psychically as he asked what happened. The images played in Jeremy's head over and over again. He did not want to believe that it was true. He always felt as if Damon hated him. He never would have thought that he would give up his life to keep him alive.

Jeremy got up, threw fresh clothes on and equipped himself with his gear and headed downstairs. Matt was already downstairs sitting in the main room waiting. Alaric came from the kitchen with a plate of bacon and eggs.

"You do know it's like dinner time right?" Jeremy asked.

"What?" Alaric asked back. "Our morning is everyone else's night. You guys want some? I made you and Matt some as well."

"No thank you," Jeremy replied. "Stefan and Caroline could be back at any moment. I don't want to be stuffing my face when it's time to fight."

"Jeremy," Alaric began, "you have to understand that Bonnie and Tyler are going to be okay. You have to make sure you have your strength and a level head going into this fight."

"Alaric is right Jeremy. We all want to get Bonnie and Tyler back but we have to make sure that we remain calm," Matt said

"I know, I know."

"But do you?" Matt asked. "You didn't seem very calm back there when you murdered our only lead." Matt covered his mouth because he was not supposed to talk about that around Alaric.

Alaric almost choked on his eggs. "What? Jeremy…"

"What do you mean what? I am a hunter, I killed a vampire. It's what I do."

"This is different Jeremy." Alaric slammed his fork onto his plate and rubbed his eyes. "Look, you are an adult and I can't tell you what to do. I can only give you advice. Right now, my best advice is whenever Caroline and Stefan come back here, don't jump to some conclusion or do something drastic." In that moment, a strong breeze blew past the guys in the main room and in front of the fireplace laid a rugged, Spanish vampire with his fangs drawn and his hands tied behind his back. Caroline stood over him and brushed her long bottled blonde hair back and adjusted her leather jacket. "Back!" she said cheerfully. Stefan stood next to her holding down the vampire so that he would not escape.

"Let me go, perra!" He screamed.

"We'll let you go when you tell us where Klaus is hiding with our friends!" Caroline retorted.

"I told you I didn't know anything!"

"Then why did we overhear you talking to your partner about meeting up with him to guard Klaus' location?" Stefan asked.

"Porque eso es asunto tuyo." He replied, sneering.

"We don't have time for this!" Jeremy yelled, walking over to the vampire, gripping him up by the collar.

"Jeremy!" Alaric called. "Calm!" Jeremy took in deep breaths and threw the vampire to the ground.

"Okay, well let's start with this," Stefan started, "what's your name and why are you helping Klaus?"

"Julian." He shot. "And as for why I am helping Klaus: he gave me my daylight ring and he promises that vampires will dominate the world. Humans are supposed to fear us yet we remain hidden. We feed and then we compel humans to forget us. Klaus will make vampires the superior beings we are supposed to be. He will reign and anyone who tries to stop him is a fool."

"Guess I should break out my dunce cap," Jeremy said with a snarky tone. "Do you know who I am?" When the vampire looked at Jeremy, his eyes looked like they were going to fall out of the sockets.

"You're, you're, you're…"

"That's right, I'm the hunter. See, things can get difficult if you don't cooperate." Jeremy pulled his stake out of his holster on his back, grabbing it by the metal handle and pointed it at him.

"Look, I can't tell you Klaus' location."

"And why is that?" Stefan asked.

"Because either way I die: You are either going to kill me now or kill Klaus hence killing me because of the bloodline thing." The vampire seemed really shaken at this point. When Elijah and Rebekah were staked, the remaining vampires, who were in Klaus' bloodline, became aware that vampirism was linked to the Original family.

"You're right," Jeremy began. "Either way you die. But two of my best friends are being held captive by Klaus and in order to get them back, I am going to need to know where they are at." The vampire was quiet.

"So you want to die now?" Jeremy asked.

"Jeremy!" Everyone yelled.

"Look," Stefan cut in. He picked up Julian by the shirt and pinned him against the fireplace. "Jeremy is right. We don't have time for this. We have accepted that we are going to die as well when Klaus dies but that is a sacrifice that we are willing to make to save humanity from Klaus. You can either tell us where Klaus is now, or we can cut your fingers off one by one until we get a straight answer. You're going to die either way, but maybe if you told us where Klaus, you could die a nobleman. Now where is he?"

Reluctantly, the vampire sighed and said, "Okay, I will take you to him. He isn't far from here actually. I'm not going to tell you exactly where he is because then you might kill me anyway. But I will show you." He lowered his head in shame as he caved.

"That's a good vampire." Jeremy petted his head. Jeremy turned to Matt and threw him the car keys, "I guess we are going to bag us a Big Bad."


	4. Four

"Damon is what?" Jeremy asked.

"Dead," Elena was numb. Her tears stopped falling.

"That can't be," Jeremy had to sit down. He sat down on the greenish plaid color couch that sat near the tinted window. "I want to see," he told Bonnie.

"But Jeremy…"

"Bonnie, I want to see!"

Bonnie walked over to him, taking his hands into hers. They looked into each other's eyes. She was projecting everything that happened into his mind the way that she saw it; a skill that she honed through practice. She pushed the pain, emotions, reactions, everything into his mind. He saw blood splatter, the venomous werewolf bite embedded in Damon's neck and Damon ripping off his daylight ring, combusting into ravenous flames and extinguishing into thick black ash. It played like a tape that was stuck on a loop.

"It was awful," she spoke when she was finished. "I've never thought that Klaus would actually kill us. He always threatened that he would but he never actually went through with it. I think we've crossed the line this time and he is coming for us."

"Well what does he want?" Jeremy asked.

"You, Jer," Matt spoke. "He wants to kill you because you're his greatest threat right now."

"A vampire hunter hunts vampires," Stefan began. "But if we can kill him, we would have not only killed off the final member of the Original Family but we would have killed off all vampires linked to Klaus' bloodline, undoing the original spell that created vampires."

"But I just can't sit here," he shouted. "I'm the hunter. I'm going. I have to help out."

"No," Elena cut in. "We've killed Original vampires before. All we need is a white oak stake."

"Elena, this is not up for discussion. I'm not some little kid. I can take care of myself."

"I can't see you die, Jeremy. I'm already going to die once we successfully kill Klaus. I have nothing to lose except you."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"You have your whole life ahead of you. I won't let Klaus take that away from you. He has already taken too much already."

"Elena…"

"Jeremy! I'm the oldest!"

"But, you're not my blood sister. You can't pull seniority over me."

She stared at him with disbelief. She did not think that Jeremy still saw them as cousins after everything they had been though together. All she could respond with was, "Regardless, we are family. We are still blood."

"You can't force me to stay here. I'll follow you."

"Jeremy," she spoke, with tears rolling down her porcelain face. She grabbed her purse which sat on the table along with her ruby sweater. "I want you to know that I will always love you. No matter what happens tonight. I want you to know that. That's why I have to do this." She flew right in front of him and pierced his neck with a syringe. Jeremy felt the sharp pinch as the fluid was pushed into his body.

"Elena!" Bonnie yelled. Jeremy's vision began to blur and he slid down on to the couch forcing his eyes to stay open.

"Don't worry, he will be alright. I picked up some tranquilizers because I knew this was going to happen."

"You can't do this! Jeremy has a right to be a part of this fight. He is an adult and a hunter. You can't strip him of that freedom!" Bonnie retorted.

"I know, I know," Elena was frazzled. Maybe she was being overbearing and controlling. She dropped the syringe and began to sob. "But I hav hav hav have to protect him."

"No you don't," Bonnie spoke sharply. "This isn't about you anymore! This isn't about which brother you are going to settle with this week. Or about a doppelgänger curse or something that is fated. This is real life: Life or death. Damon…" Bonnie felt weak as a tear began to roll down her cheek. She couldn't finish her thought.

"Bonnie's right Elena," Matt spoke. "Jeremy has a choice."

"Look," Elena said, "you all can stay here if you like but I'm going to make sure that Klaus is dead before the night is over. Stefan, are you coming?"

Stefan was silent for the most part. He could not believe that over the 100 years of life that he lived on his earth that his brother would have given his life to save someone. The role of an antagonist that Damon played turned out to be a façade as he was really a hero. "Jeremy has a choice, Elena."

"I can't believe this." Elena paced through the cabin and then she headed towards the weapon's closet.

"Elena, what are you doing?" Stefan asked.

"If none of you are going to help me kill Klaus," she said digging through the trunk hidden beneath the floor board. She pulled out a pointy, chalk colored stake, "Then I'll have to do it myself," she said before darting by them and out of the front door of the cabin. Stefan ran outside yelling for her to come back but she was already gone.

"We can't let her go alone," Matt said, panicking. "This is a suicide mission."

"We won't let her do this alone," Stefan went to the closet and grabbed another stake from Jeremy's closet. "I'll run after her and try to stall her. When I find out where she's headed, I'll contact you guys. Let everyone else know where we're at and meet up with us." And like the wind, Stefan blew out of the cabin.

"I guess we wait," Bonnie said to Matt. She looked at Jeremy who was peacefully sleeping, unconscious to all that had transpired; unconscious to the danger that awaited them.

…...…

Outside of the Klaus' Family Mansion, the air was still. It was nighttime and all of the lights were on inside of the mansion. Between the trees, Elena was crouching down, looking to find a way into the Mansion while remaining undetected. She noticed a tree near the west end of the mansion and thought that if she was able to climb through the window, she could sneak in, find Klaus before he noticed her in his home. Then once she got close enough, she would stab him in the heart.

Elena thought about her plan and though it was risky, she had to at least try for Jeremy's sake. She knew that as soon as she plunged the white oak stake into Klaus' chest her body would desiccate into a lifeless corpus; ironic because her heart had not beat in years. She had not completely come to terms with her death, but she had to die if it meant that Jeremy, Bonnie and everyone else who wasn't a vampire was safe. _Damon, I will see you again_. She thought. _I will fix this_.

She made sure that Klaus' vampires and hybrids weren't keeping watch of the ground. When the coast was clear, she bolted to the tree. She looked up and tree was mass, with a huge bark that she could not wrap her arms around. She put the white oak in her black designer bag that was wrapped around her body and dug her fingers into the tree with her finger nails. It was good that as a vampire she did not get tired easily because she noted that this would be impossible in her human body.

At the top, she sat on the branch and looked into the room window. The light was on and the room was empty. Not only was no one in the room, it lacked furniture or decorations. The hardwood floors shined from the light projecting overhead. _I hope these floors don't creak_. She stood up on the branch and began to walk towards the window. "Elena!"

Elena jumped and almost fell out of the tree shaking. She looked down and saw Stefan in his leather jacket that almost matched his auburn hair. His face beamed up at her as she tried to compose herself. "Shhh…" she said.

In a whisper he said, "Elena, you don't have to do this."

"Stefan, I do. Don't try to stop me. You can either help me or you can leave but either way Klaus dies tonight."

She carefully walked towards the window hoping that the branch would continue to support her weight. She put one foot in front of the other and when she got to the window, she flew in, landing on her feet. She looked out the window and saw Stefan on the branch beginning to climb into the window. "How did you get up here so quick?"

"I climbed?"

"Yeah, but how did you climb up here to fast? That tree was huge!"

"Okay, okay, I lied I jumped."

"Right…" Just then Elena could hear two voices speaking in the hallway.

"Stefan, someone's coming!" Elena looked at the opened closet and darted towards it. It was tight but it would work, "in here." Stefan flew into the room and ran into the closet. She followed and shut the door.

The voices began to get closer; Elena and Stefan's body were pressed up against one another's in the dark. If Stefan and Elena weren't vampires, their body heat would have made the closet hot. With their bodies entangled, Elena looked up and her face met Stefan's.

The voices seemed to go pass the room and grow faint as they went down the hall. "Stefan, I have to tell you something," Elena began. "I have to say this before we die. Even though Damon and I were together, you always held a special place in my heart. Stefan, you were my first true love. I loved Matt but I always saw him as a brother. But Stefan, I never knew true love until you came into my life. And I want to thank you for that. You are a true friend and I hope that when this is all over we can reconvene on the other side. We will be together: You, Me, Caroline, Damon, Aunt Jenna and everyone else we've lost or will lose. We'll be watching and waiting for our friends who live on to see them again. Don't you see? We have to do this. We have to see death in order to be truly happy."

"Elena, I don't know what else to say except that I love you. And there is no one else alive right now that I would rather die beside. Even though you did just tranquilize your brother, you are an honorable woman." Stefan smiled and then he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

Elena smiled back and said, "I think the coast is clear now." Elena opened the door and looked out. The light was still on but there was no one in the hallway. Elena ran over to the doorway and peaked out. The hall was long with bends on both ends. It had white walls and a long red carpet extended to both ends of the hallway. She heard the voices going down the left hallway and figured it might be safer to go right. Assuming Stefan was right behind her, she began to creep into the hallway. She looked at the paintings of the Mikaelson Family: family portraits, solo portraits, dead ancestor portraits. Elena was intrigued by the one with all of the brothers and Rebekah sitting on their family couch. The photo was old and they all looked happy, they looked normal. Despite being plagued with jealously, rage and animosity throughout the centuries, they seemed to really love each other.

Elena went cold at the thought. She and her friends had stripped the Original Family of their glory the moment came to Mystic Falls. No one but Elena and her friends managed to kill an Original vampire. Many tired but none successful. So even though that happy, normal looking family in the photo was together, it did not translate to the reality which was that it was broken because of her. This realization rushed power through her veins. She felt more powerful than she should for someone about to meet their final death.

Stefan and Elena kept walking and turned right around the bent, peaking into each room to see if Klaus was unsuspectingly in one of them. Each room they entered had the light on and was empty. "Do you think he is renovating?" Elena asked.

"Or Klaus is getting ready to move out of Mystic Falls. He has no reason to stay anymore. He's lost his family, he has no friends and once he kills us, he'll have no problems. He might be planning on starting new."

"Look!" Elena exclaimed. Right ahead was a huge crystal chandelier and a balcony. Elena and Stefan crept closer to the edge in fear of being seen. They got down on their hands and knees and peered down below spotting Klaus as he stood at the front door talking to a woman. She wore a flashy red dress and a diamond necklace that matched her diamond bracelet and ring.

"This is a lovely mansion. Well-kept and I am certain that we will have a potential buyer for the house in no time Mr. Mikaelson. Any particular reason you are moving?"

"Well, my family is no longer in Mystic Falls and I feel as though it is time to move on."

"So you were right," Elena whispered to Stefan.

"Like I said, I will be back out tomorrow afternoon to do an open house. Do you mind not being home tomorrow? Just so I don't interrupt anything?

"That is fine. I'll be meeting up with a couple of friends. We have some unfinished business to attend to." Elena felt faint. She knew that Klaus meant that he was going to go hunting for Jeremy. She had to make sure that Klaus was dead before that could happen.

"Great! Thank you. I will call you when we have a potential buyer."

"And thank you for accommodating me on such short notice Have a good evening and get home safe."

Klaus let her out and closed the door. He walked out of the main hall and underneath the balcony Stefan and Elena were hiding behind. Elena pulled out the white oak stake from her bag. "I think this might be our chance." She stood and crept down the flight of stairs clutching the stake in her right hand. Every step was a step closer to the end.

When she and Stefan reached the bottom of the staircase, she began walking towards the direction Klaus was headed. _Snap!_ She turned around quickly and found Stefan's lifeless body on the ground with his neck snapped and a huge man with black eyes and sharp, white fangs standing over him. Elena turned to run but then she felt him grab her head and it twisted. She blacked out.

…

Elena awoke to smell of smoke. The smell lingered in her nostrils. Her vision was blurred when she opened her eyes but she could see that she was in a circle of fire. Behind her she could feel hands adjacent to her own tied up. The ropes stung and tore into the flesh on her wrist: V_ervain_, she thought.

"Stefan? Stefan!"

"What?" He said coming to.

"Stefan we're trapped."

"Well, well, well," a voice bellowed. "Snooping around my home I see." Klaus was standing across from them next to a bookcase.

"Klaus let us go!" Elena groaned.

"Why would I do that? So you can stake me?" He asked. "Where is Damon Salvatore? I was expecting to see him."

"He's dead." The words left a bitter taste in Elena's mouth.

"Isn't that a shame?"

"You won't get your hands on Jeremy!" Elena yelled.

"Oh, but I will."

The fire began to grow up to their knees. "So what are you going to burn down the house that you are already planning to sell? How is that going to work out for you?" Stefan asked.

"I don't really need the money. I was just doing my common "human" courteous to keep up appearances. But I'm pretty sure I can compel everyone into thinking that this Mansion never existed."

"What's the plan, burn Stefan and I alive?" Elena struggled with the ropes trying to break free but they were tied tight. The vervain caused them to tear deeper into her skin.

"Exactly love," Klaus smiled. "You ripped my family away from me and I am going to do the same to you. The more of you that I get out of the way, the easier it will be for me to kill your hunter. Who just so happens to be on his way actually."

"How do you know that?" Elena snapped.

Klaus picked up Stefan's cell phone. "After my hybrid Mitchell snapped your necks, I confiscated your phones to get in touch with Jeremy to let you know that you found me of course. But from the looks of it, Stefan already let him know where you were."

"Stefan!" Elena groaned.

"Elena, we weren't going to let you do this by yourself. Jeremy has the right to be a part of this."

"Speak of the hunter!" Klaus exclaimed. In through side door Jeremy, Bonnie, Matt, and Alaric were being walked into the room by Klaus' hybrid henchmen. "Welcome all to my humble abode!"

"Elena!" Jeremy yelled.

"Klaus, you won't get away with this," Elena said, tugging at the ropes as the fire was growing larger, spreading throughout the room. Klaus' henchmen tied the rest of the gang to chairs that faced Elena and Stefan. Elena noticed that Tyler and Caroline weren't in the lineup.

"But it looks like I will!" Klaus bounced up and down on his toes, tapping his fingers together in a sinister motion. "Now that your friends are all strapped down, they can watch you both roast before they meet the same fate." Elena was trying to think of a plan but she was stuck. She couldn't think of what to do. It seemed like this was all falling apart and it was all her fault. If she hadn't have just run off thinking she could stop Klaus on her own then maybe her friends would be facing their deaths.

The fire began to break free from the circle and burn throughout the room. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I've got a real estate agency to compel before the fire torches this place. It was an absolute displeasure meeting all of you."

"Go to hell!" Stefan yelled.

"I'll see you there someday but no time soon." And with that, Klaus left the house with his hybrid henchmen following.

"Stefan," Bonnie began, "if we can find something sharp maybe I can levitate it towards me to cut these ropes."

Stefan was facing Klaus' desk but there was nothing on it. He had cleared out everything. "Bonnie, there is nothing here."

"Where are Caroline and Tyler?" Elena yelled.

"We sent them up to the roof to get in that way." Alaric responded. "We split up and Bonnie, Matt, Jeremy and I were to come in through a window but we were caught."

"Do you think they made it in?" Elena asked.

"We did," Caroline shouted, running into the room. She pulled a nail file out of her pocket.

"Thank God you didn't get caught!" Matt said.

"We did actually but Tyler and I were able to fight off one of the vampires Klaus had lurching around on the top floor. Guess he likes to keep his hybrids closer to him."

"Where is Tyler?" Jeremy asked, coughing on smoke.

Caroline flew over towards Bonnie, Alaric, Matt and Jeremy to cut their ropes. "I told him to find water. Elena and Stefan can you hang on until Tyler gets that water."

"Yeah we can hang on," Stefan said, trying to pull his body away from the flames as they inched closer towards his legs.

"Got it!" Tyler entered with a bucket of water and threw it around Stefan and Elena extinguishing the circle of flames. Caroline was almost done freeing everyone with her nail file. She was still working on Alaric's ropes— he fell unconscious from the smoke.

Jeremy and Matt got up and tipped toed through the fire to free Elena and Stefan since they could touch the vervain. Jeremy fell and started a coughing fit. The smoke was overbearing and they both collapsed. "Caroline, you have to get them out of here!" Elena yelled. "Stefan and I will be fine." After cutting Alaric free and picked him up and ran out of the room. She ran back into the room in less than five seconds and picked up Jeremy and ran him out of the room and shortly after came back for Matt. Bonnie was trying to focus and extinguish the flames that had spread throughout the room with magic but the fire was too great. She was growing more unconscious as smoke began to fill her lungs. She was losing focus of the fire.

"We can't go through the front door anymore," Caroline said when she came back to get Bonnie. Tyler had gotten to Stefan and Elena untying their ropes. He was choking on the smoke as well but since he was a werewolf, his lungs healed as the smoke did damage. "It's blocked. The fire is spreading out there and the house is falling apart. We have to find another way out."

"Can we go out a window?" Elena asked looking at the window engulfed with flames in the room they were in.

"I think we can make it upstairs if we move quickly," Caroline answered. When he got free, Stefan ran and picked up Bonnie. Caroline assisted Tyler and Elena followed behind. They left the room. In the main hall of the mansion, the one flight of stairs closer to them was already consumed with fire. They ran across the floor and headed to the far staircase. Stefan ran to the top of the stairs carrying Bonnie in his arms. "Tyler, I can carry you. You're taking too long!" Caroline snapped at him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said in fear that it would emasculate him when he was doing alright walking.

When Bonnie, Stefan, Caroline and Tyler got to the top of the stairs, they looked down and saw Elena looking out the front window next to the door. "Elena! Come on!" Caroline yelled.

"Sorry, I was just checking to see if Jeremy was okay. I wanted to make sure that Klaus wasn't still hanging aro—." Before Elena finished her sentence, a piece of the ceiling clasped onto the staircase. It was laced in fire and set the staircase ablaze.

"Oh my God! Elena!" Caroline shirked.

"I can't get up there you guys," Elena cried.

"Elena," Stefan started.

"Go!" Elena yelled, interrupting him. "I'll be fine. I'll find another way out." Hesitant, but obedient, they ran down the hallway towards the back of the mansion.

Stefan tried to remember the room with the tree by the window. Stefan kept running as the flames had not yet touched the back of the mansion. He stopped in front of a room that had a balcony and he ran with Bonnie still in his arms. When Caroline and Tyler caught up to him, Stefan kicked open the balcony doors and said, "I think we are going to have to jump. There's no other way out. Bonnie, Bonnie! Can you hear me?" Bonnie groaned. "I need you to get on my back and hold on as tight as you can." He bent down and put her on his back and climbed over the railing of the balcony when he knew she was secure. He jumped down and landed on his feet like a cat. He ran back from the mansion to clear the way for Caroline and Tyler then put Bonnie on the ground.

"Stefan!" Stefan looked up and saw Jeremy, Matt and Alaric staggering towards them. Caroline and Tyler were walking up to them as well. "Stefan, where is Elena?"

"She's still inside. We tried to save her but she got trapped."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Jeremy cried as he turned to run back into the house.

Alaric grabbed his arm and coughed, "Jeremy no! You'll die in there!"

"But Elena is in there! She needs us!"

"I know, but we can't," Alaric's voice fell flat. He was supposed to protect Elena and Jeremy. He gazed onto the burning family mansion. "Jeremy, I'm so sorry." He began to cry. "I've failed you and Elena as your guardian."

"No," Bonnie sat up on the grass, holding her head between her knees.

After a moment of watching the mansion submerge in fire, Jeremy noticed a figure in the window. "Elena!" He called out. He tried to run closer to the window but Stefan grabbed him. Even though he was stopped, Jeremy was close enough to see that it was too late. Elena had fire running up the left side of her body. Though the fire burned her pale skin, she smiled. She was glad to see that Jeremy had gotten out alive, that they all gotten out alive.

"Stefan, we got to save her! She's right there!" Jeremy grew frantic. As if she had heard Jeremy, she began to shake her head no, she did not want to be saved. Elena smiled back at Jeremy, accepting her fate. She turned and walked into the fires and she disappeared.

"No!" Jeremy sobbed. He fell to the ground and pounded the ground with his fist. Stefan rubbed his back and cried beside him. He picked up Jeremy and hugged him. Bonnie, Tyler, Caroline and Alaric came up from behind them. They cried while the mansion's flames licked the moon. Sirens blared in the distance.


	5. Five

"Of course," Alaric uttered.

Jeremy had been by here before, but he never been back. It was his home, the home he lived in before Elena burned it to the ground. Of course he didn't witness it because he had been dead. He heard about Elena's breakdown and the flame that took their house. However, as he stood in front of the rebuilt, recognizable house, it felt as if it never happened. The lights were on and lavender curtains were drawn. The house was quiet and if someone were to randomly walk by, they would have thought that a normal family lived here. That there was a mother, father, sister and brother sitting at the dinner table eating dinner, talking about their normal lives – in a normal life.

Caroline and Stefan jumped out of the trunk of Matt's red Ford pickup truck. They gagged Julian with vervain so that he would not scream. "Ready?" Matt asked Jeremy who was sitting in between him and Alaric.

"As ready as I'm going to be," Jeremy responded. Alaric got out of the car and Jeremy got out on the passenger side. He adjusted the white oak stake, his own personal stake and his blade in the holster on his back. He then poked around in his pocket to make sure that he had the Gilbert Device 2.0.

They walked up to the door and Jeremy kicked it open. The door flew off the hinges and inside, he saw Tyler and Bonnie in the living room bound to wooden chairs by their wrist and ankles in the living room: they were gagged, beaten and bloody.

"Tyler! Bonnie!" Jeremey cried.

Just as he started walking towards them a voice spoke out in the shadows of the hallway that extended to the kitchen, "Where are your manners, little Gilbert." His voice was taunting. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to knock? But then again, your mother's dead." He said with a toothy grin.

"Klaus!"

"In the flesh," he spoke. "And I see you brought the whole gang. Have you all come to die?"

"We aren't going to let you create a supernatural army that will take over the world," Caroline shot back.

"Isn't that noble of you? You two are a disgrace to my bloodline," he said pointing to Stefan and Caroline.

"And we're sorry that we had to be a part of it," Stefan followed.

"Let them go!" Jeremy roared. Klaus began to laugh. Jeremy ran towards the living room but there was an invisible barrier keeping him from entering into the living room. Out of the corner of living crept the witch that escaped the factory.

"I believe you met Gabriella already," Klaus said. "While you were infiltrating my base for answers, she could sense another witch working against their magic and alerted me. I, of course, ran to the factory with one of my hybrids, knocked Tyler Lockwood out and managed to destroy your witch's circle and kidnapped them both. Gabriella's been keeping them in a magically induced coma. I didn't plan to kill them…yet. I've been waiting for you, so I could kill you all at one time. I refuse to let any of your ruin my plans this time."

"Sorry to disappoint you but it's five on two and I'm pretty sure we can take you. Besides, it only took Elena and me to kill Kol." Jeremy said. He took the Gilbert Device out of his pocket and Caroline and Stefan put their ear plugs in. Jeremy let it ring hoping that it would immobilize Klaus. Gabriella fell to the ground, grabbing at her head while to their surprise Klaus seemed unbothered by the device. He ran up to Jeremy and slapped it out of his hand and grabbed Jeremy by the neck lifting him off the ground. Stefan charged for Klaus but he punched Stefan in the chest, causing him to fly through the living room. Klaus threw Jeremy back into the kitchen.

"Look!" Alaric exclaimed, "The barrier is down. The device is working on the witch." As if on cue Caroline flew over to Gabriella and kicked her in the face. She fell over, knocked unconscious. Matt and Alaric ran into the living room to untie Bonnie and Tyler.

When Klaus began to follow after Caroline, who was still standing over the witch's body, Jeremy got up off the kitchen floor and ran towards Klaus, hoping to snap his neck. As if he could sense Jeremy running behind him, he turned, grabbed Jeremy by the arm and snapped his arm at the elbow.

"AH!" Jeremy wrenched out in pain. He fell to the ground holding his arm that pulsated in agony.

"What's wrong Jeremy Gilbert? You cannot kill me. I have hundreds of years on all of you. None of you can stop me!" He began to laugh. His laughter turned into a croaked when his neck snapped. Klaus' lifeless body fell to the floor and standing behind him was Stefan.

"Here," Stefan said, running towards Jeremy's aid. Stefan bit his arm and let Jeremy drink from his wrist to heal his broken arm.

"Thanks," Jeremy said.

"No problem."

"How are we doing?" Jeremy asked. He stood up looking towards the rest of the gang.

"Alright over here," Caroline spoke. She bent down and picked up the Gilbert Device 2.0 and turned it off. "His witch is still unconscious."

"Kill her," Jeremy's words were cold. "We can't risk her screwing with our heads." Caroline bent over and snapped her neck.

"Bonnie!" Jeremy exclaimed running towards her. Alaric had untied her but she was still sitting in the chair. Jeremy crouched down and held her face. "Bonnie, wake up!"

"Jeremy?" she asked.

"Oh my god, are you alright?"

"Yeah, my head just hurts."

"It's going to be okay. We are about to win!"

"We are?" she asked with excitement in her voice.

"We are."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news but where is Julian?" Alaric asked.

"I don't know," Stefan said, "maybe he fled during the fight."

Matt had Tyler's arm around his neck. "What are we going to do now?"

"Kill Klaus," Jeremy responded.

"Well, we better make it quick before he wakes up. He's a hybrid, he'll wake up soon," Tyler groaned.

"I know, I know." Jeremy answered. He knew that they were supposed to kill Klaus but it finally hit him that Stefan and Caroline would die right before their eyes when they did.

Stefan pulled the white oak stake out of Jeremy's holster and placed it in Jeremy's hand. "Jeremy, everything is fine. We will be alright."

"I will miss you guys," Jeremy whispered. Jeremy walked over to Klaus' body, still lifeless and kneeled down beside him. Jeremy was looking at death. Klaus had killed too many people, hunting them. Killing Klaus meant that Jeremy's life would be normal again; no more vampires. He lifted up the white oak stake over his head, positioning it perfectly.

"No!" a voice yelled running towards Jeremy. Jeremy felt the heavy weight of its body as it ran into him, knocking him off of Klaus.

"Julian!" Alaric shrieked.

"I can't let him do it," Julian said. "You're not killing Klaus!"

"Like hell I'm not!" Jeremy punched Julian in the face and they began to wrestle.

Caroline spotted Klaus' fingers beginning to wiggle. "Oh my God, he's waking up!"

"Where's the white oak stake?" Stefan asked.

They all took a minute to look around the hall without getting too close to Klaus. "There!" Matt exclaimed, pointing underneath the chest beside the stairs.

Stefan ran to get it but felt a hand grab his ankle, tripping him. He hit his face against the chest while falling down. "Klaus is awake!" Tyler shouted.

Jeremy got control of Julian and punched him in the nose and then snapped his neck. "I knew he was going to somehow bite us in the ass." Jeremy tossed Julian's body off of his but before he could stand up, Jeremy was pinned down by Klaus' body. Klaus' fangs were drawn and he clamped down on Jeremy's neck. "Ah!" Jeremy yelled. Jeremy could feel his life force being drained from his body.

Bonnie stood up, weak but steady, and held out her hand towards Klaus. Klaus stopped digging into Jeremy's neck and held his head as he fell over.

"Caroline, get the stake!" Bonnie bellowed.

Caroline ran to the chest to get the stake from Stefan, who was recovering from hitting his head. Before she could grab it, Klaus sprang up and plunged his hand into her back and yanked out her heart. Caroline looked down and fell over face up. Stefan then jumped up with the white oak stake in his hand but Klaus grabbed Stefan, slammed him into the wall and bit into his neck. With his hands, Klaus twisted on Stefan head and pulled it off.

"Bonnie!" Jeremy yelled.

"I'm trying to contain him, but he's fighting through my magic!"

Tyler let go of Matt and began to tremble. Matt stepped back because he knew what was coming next. Tyler's bones began to snap and break as he tore out of his clothes. He grew black hair on his face and arms while his eyes changed to yellow and his werewolf teeth were drawn. He fell to all fours and lunged towards Klaus.

Klaus waved his left hand, throwing Tyler across the room. Tyler got up and lunged for Klaus again biting into his arms this time. Klaus yelled out in pain. Alaric ran over to grab Klaus' other arm while kicking the white oak stake towards Jeremy.

Jeremy got up and picked up the stake and plunged it into his heart. "Goodbye Klaus."

Klaus yelled out and combusted. Tyler and Alaric both began to back up and Klaus fell to his knees. "You think you've won. You think you've killed vampires, but you are mistaken Jeremy Gilbert. Vampires are immortal. Vampires are forever!"

When the flames extinguished, all that was left was a pill of ash. Bonnie ran over to Jeremy, falling into his arms. When Jeremy looked around the room, all he could see was loss. Caroline's body lied on the floor with her heart extracted next to her. Stefan's head lied, torn from his body; but his eyes closed—he looked peaceful.

Alaric, Matt, and Tyler (in human form, tying his ripped clothes around his waist) gathered around Jeremy and Bonnie. The room felt cold while tears burned their eyes. They stood paralyzed by Klaus' last words which hang in the air: "Vampires are immortal. Vampires are forever!"


End file.
